In 1974, Goldwater and Rhodes told Nixon he was doomed

Three leading Capitol Hill Republicans - Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, Barry Goldwater of Arizona and House Minority Leader John Rhodes of Arizona - told embattled President Richard Nixon he did not have the support to survive impeachment proceedings.(Photo: Republic file photo)

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Saturday is the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's resignation.

Thursday, however, marks the anniversary of a related incident that has since become legendary in Arizona political lore. On Aug. 7, 1974, U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., U.S. House Minority Leader John Rhodes, R-Ariz., and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, R-Pa., made it clear to the embattled Nixon that he faced all-but-certain impeachment, conviction and removal from office in connection with the Watergate scandal.

Nixon announced his resignation the next evening, effective at noon on Aug 9, 1974.

Over the years, Goldwater, Rhodes and Scott have been lionized for their often exaggerated role in precipitating Nixon's exit.

In his 2006 book "Conservatives Without Conscience," former Watergate figure John W. Dean wrote that the Capitol Hill trio "traveled to the White House to tell Nixon it was time to resign." A Los Angeles Times headline over Rhodes' 2003 obituary recalled that the longtime representative from Mesa "helped persuade Nixon to resign." A 2007 Politico column recalled the episode as "When the GOP Torpedoed Nixon."

Actually, Goldwater, Rhodes and Scott did not try to persuade or urge Nixon to resign in their meeting in his "working office" in the Old Executive Office Building. They just confirmed to the doomed president the extent to which his support on the Hill had evaporated.

"My dad kind of bristled at the idea that he and Goldwater talked Nixon into doing what he did," son Tom Rhodes told The Arizona Republic. "I don't think any one of the three of them took any pride in that moment."

Contemporary news reports and later retellings of the meeting by Goldwater and Rhodes indicate that they didn't lobby Nixon to quit, although both were disillusioned by the Watergate scandal and cover-up.

Goldwater, who had been the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, told Arizona reporters in a conference call shortly after the meeting that resignation "never came up" during the conversation.

"I don't think it would be proper for me to say what I think," Goldwater said, according to an account of his media call in the Aug. 8, 1974, edition of the Tucson Daily Citizen. "And, anyway, I'm not sure the president would pay much attention."

In his 1988 autobiography, Goldwater wrote that after hearing their grim assessment, Nixon "knew beyond any doubt that one way or another his presidency was finished."

"None of us doubted the outcome. He would resign," Goldwater wrote.

Rhodes, who served in the U.S. House from 1953 to 1983, also recounted the meeting in his 1995 memoir "I Was There," but noted, "I got the very strong impression that he had already decided to resign when he talked to us."

Jack August, Jr., an Arizona political historian and author, agreed that Nixon probably "had already seen the writing on the wall," but said that doesn't diminish the fact that Goldwater and Rhodes were important players at a time of national crisis, even if they were just messengers.

"This is part of Arizona's historical brand at the national level," August said. "These two guys played a significant role during a critical period of transition."

"It's a non-starter," Gosar, a conservative Obama critic, said Friday. "Even if you could get it out of the House, you're never going to have it work in the (Democrat-controlled) Senate. A wise man said that if you beat your head against the wall, and it hurts, stop beating it. Find a different remedy."

* U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, D-Ariz., has reserved $818,000 in campaign advertising time in Tucson's local and cable TV market for Sept. 2 through Nov. 4. Barber's re-election race in the state's 2nd Congressional District is viewed as one of the toughest in the country. He will face the winner of the Aug. 26 Republican primary: either Shelley Kais, Martha McSally or Chuck Wooten.

Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki.